Longevity
by redefinir
Summary: Three years passed. For three years, the Digital World has been completely void of all human life, and the real world void of digital life. "We need to find a way. Something is wrong. I've felt this creeping darkness before."  OC


Longevity

~redefinir

AN: I finished watching 02 again recently after a decade(!), and the lack of closure was tearing me up... So I went and started pouring out some words to a potential story surrounding the character I identify most with, Ken. :) This is my first attempt at writing in a very, very long time, so tell me what you think I could improve and if you like the direction I'm going in. I was debating on whether or not I should use the English dub or original names, but I figured I'd screw up too many times as this is how I've always known the characters. Enjoy. 3

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><p>Introduction<p>

Ken Ichijouji's eyes wander across the sprawling rooftops of Tamachi. The twilight Tokyo sky resonates across the horizon and fuses with streetlights, leaving a comforting purplish glow. Summer nights leave his mind at ease... A temporary mask over his uneasiness.

_B-Beep. B-Beep. B-Beep._

Light spilling from the lid of his D-Terminal, Ken turns to his desk. He'd been eagerly awaiting a distraction from the sinking sensation he felt in his heart, tugging him deeper into an uncomfortably familiar rut.

_Meet me half way. -Davis_

The fifteen minute walk established the distance between Odaiba and Tamachi. Whether it be a humid August afternoon—such as tonight—or a bitter cold winterim morning, the two often found themselves uniting on the bridge separating the two districts. The nights he'd spent watching the glimmering sunset splash across Tokyo Bay with his best friend and teammate, speculating the future and reminiscing the past, were etched in his mind.

One winter night in particular, a few days after the defeat of MaloMyotismon, Davis voiced his concerns about the future. After the year-long struggle to restore order to the Digital World, their importance as Digidestined was unclear. Though he didn't openly admit it, Ken also wondered how long they would have access to their second homes.

_We have never known what the digital world is like when untainted by darkness and chaos._

In the weeks following, however, they found out. The Digital World prospered as it continued to rebuild what had been destroyed in the prior years. Past and present Digidestined and their partners banded together to create shelters, rebuild bridges and reconcile the hopes of Digimon whose aspirations were taken from them; at the same time restoring the tranquility between the two worlds. Though the two dimensions appeared to be meshing harmoniously, by the middle of the year, the connection points—Digiports—had slowly become harder to open.

After experimenting, Izzy came to the unsure conclusion that static interference was blocking the transmissions between the real and digital worlds. His stern recommendation was to cease the use of the ports until they were stable enough to traverse.

"Who knows what could happen if someone were to open a port and only transmit pieces of themselves to the Digital World?" He rested his forehead in his palm, completely awestruck. "I don't understand why this is happening. If I have no way of overseeing the Digital World, there's no way I'll be able to diagnose this."

Izzy's other theory was that since Davis, Yolei, T.K., Kari, Cody and Ken's assistance was no longer needed in the Digital World, Digiports no longer responded to their attempts to open them.

"It's similar to what happened to us when you six received D-3s. Our older versions wouldn't allow us to travel there unless someone with a D-3 initiated the port."

Since Izzy's conjecture, three years passed. For three years, the Digital World has been completely void of all human life, and the real world void of digital life.

Ken tosses his Digivice and D-Terminal into a canvas bag with his laptop and slings it over his shoulder. Acknowledging his father with a nod on the way out, he slips on his shoes and quietly clicks the door to the apartment shut.

Darkness had fallen by the time he reached the edge of the bridge, and the heat warming his face had turned into a gentle breeze. Davis's silhouette formed in the distance.

_I've been seeing things in my dreams that aren't normal. I want to run but I can't. It's like my legs won't respond when my mind screams at them to move. Then I'm powerless, and..._

"Hey, Ken."

The familiar voice soothes the fear in his heart. Davis's company was invaluable to Ken during the absence of their Digimon partners. The majority of the Digidestined had stuck together until the bleak reality was too much to bear. Aside from Davis and Ken, most began to drift apart into their real life obligations, giving up on what they were convinced was a passing phase of responsibility. The evidence of their venture in the Digital World was so scarce that, eventually, the only thing that convinced them it wasn't just a dream was their still-functional but unusable Digivices.

_We need to find a way. Something is wrong. I've felt this creeping darkness before._

Davis perches on the railing, letting his legs hang over the water. He breaks the silence. "So... Tell me what happened."

"I was walking back from the convenience store last night. I saw a huge shadow in an alley."

"A Digimon?"

"I think so. I'm not sure. It definitely wasn't human. It had to be 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide." Ken watches Davis's face illuminate with headlights, only to fade into darkness again. He continues. "I hadn't walked a block when I heard my D-3, and the screen showed a distress signal. I think Wormmon was able to contact me, even with the connection between our worlds disrupted... I just don't know why or how."

Davis nods slowly. "And the shadow?"

"There was a gust wind that almost picked me up off the ground. I looked down the alley, where it came from, and there it was, hunching over something," Ken says quietly. "and fading in and out. Like a TV station when it's broken. Static."

"It sounds like what happened to Kari when she first went to the Dark World." Davis's eyes sunk to the bay below. The worry painted in his eyes was obvious.

"And probably what happened to me when I first got my D-3." Ken shakes his head. "I sprinted toward it, but it saw me, growled and melted into the ground like it was never there. And the air was completely still."

"What do you think we should we do? Without our Digimon, we can't protect ourselves against this... Thing you saw."

"Well..." Ken shifts the weight of his bag on his shoulder, reaches in and pulls out his gray and black D-3. He holds it out. "If they are here in the real world, something must be terribly wrong. And if they can get here, we can get there."


End file.
